During my sabbatical, depending upon the place I have been, there have been patterns and rhythms to daily life.

While in Germany and Austria, the schedule was set by our tour guide: wake up call, breakfast, get on the bus, and arrival at our hotel and dinner at night.

When I was at Iona, Scotland the schedule for the community was determined by two major happenings. First, there were prayers and worship every morning and each evening; many guests on the island and residents determined their daily schedules according to prayer times. Second was the arrival of the ferry boat from the Isle of Mull each hour, so that the island had a hectic pace between quarter of the hour until quarter after, when new visitors were coming to the island on the ferry boat. The ferry is the only access to Iona. Many people come to visit for the day and set their own pattern so as to catch the ferry boat for their return. The time in between the ferry pick up and drop off was quieter, and in the evening at 7 pm after the last ferry boat departed for the night, the island took on a very quiet persona. The only other pattern (for me) was that meals were served at St. Columba Hotel from 6-8 am for breakfast, and from 5-7 pm for dinner. While at Iona I was introduced to tea time and coffee after dinner, which for some people becomes part of their daily ritual. I usually skipped afternoon tea, but did enjoy after dinner coffee, when the dining room guests moved to the sun porch and had time to talk and share experiences.

As a tourist soaking in all that we could, Debbie and I had no set patterns or rhythms when we traveled through Scotland and England. Our goal was to see as much as we could with the limited time we had. Our main determination of times and schedules had to do with when the next train departed.  

....to be continued......